Dr. John McCarthy, who runs a private practice in Dongan Hills, says over the course of just a few days, he's used the state-run database to turn away a number of doctor-shopping patients.

"One kid in particular, in the month of June, filled five different prescriptions for Roxy 30s," he said, referring to the immediate-release, 30 mg-dose version of the painkiller oxycodone.

The state Department of Health has been keeping the database for years, but this past February, it allowed doctors to access it directly. Through the end of June, doctors have made more 7,000 requests for information now that they have direct access, according to a state Department of Health spokesman.

The aforementioned Roxy-30 patient had come in a month earlier, seeking a prescription for painkillers, and Dr. McCarthy responded by telling him to visit a pain management specialist. He scheduled another visit, though, saying that he couldn't get a pain management appointment.

So Dr. McCarthy ran the teen's name through the database, and learned about the five prescriptions -- each one for 180 doses of the painkiller, which can fetch a street price of $25 to $30 a pill.

He called the patient in and confronted him with the information.

"He just walked out," the doctor said. "Hopefully, he tells his friends that I'm not fooling around."

In the past, doctors would receive notifications in the mail if their patients were flagged by the state database as possible doctor-shoppers.

Now, doctors can apply for a password to a database that will tell them "if the patient has received controlled substance prescriptions from two or more practitioners and filled them at two or more pharmacies during the previous calendar month," according to an April 5 letter written by state Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines.

Pharmacists, however, still don't have access to the state database.

Dr. McCarthy said he orders drug screenings on all new patients, and typically holds off on writing prescriptions for painkillers.

Still, even the most vigilant of doctors face a dilemma, he said: "It's a very difficult situation because you don't want to miss the real ones. The most I'll do is give them a small sample and send them to pain management."